Katsav Sentenced To 7 Years

Convicted rapist and former Israeli president Moshe Katsav was sentenced today to seven years in prison for two rapes he committed while in office.

Former President Moshe Katsav gets 7 years in jail for rape
Katsav also receives two years probation and is ordered to pay NIS 125,000 compensation to his victims; judges: No man is above the law.
By Ofra Edelman • Ha’aretz

Former President of the State of Israel Moshe Katsav was sentenced to seven years in jail Tuesday, for after he had previously been found guilty of rape and other sexual offenses.

The court also ruled that Katsav must also serve two years of probation and pay NIS 100,000 to his rape victim, a former employee of the Tourism Ministry known as A., and to pay NIS 25,000 to L., a former employee of the President's Residence, whom he had sexually harrased and abused.

Katsav will begin serving his sentence on May 8, 2011.

In December, the Tel Aviv District Court judges, George Karra, Judith Shevach and Miriam Sokolov, handed down a unanimous verdict on Katsav's case after complaints had surfaced of sexual offenses against various subordinates during Katsav’s terms as tourism minister and president.

"On December 30, 2010, the defendant was convicted of committing serious sexual offenses against women who were subordinate to him," the judges ruled in a majority opinion.

"The crime of rape damages and destroys a person's soul… Due to the severity of the crime, the punishment must be clear and precise," the judges said.

"The defendant committed the crime and like every other person, he must bear the consequences. No man is above the law."

"The contention that seeing a former president of the country go to jail is too painful to watch is an emotional argument, but it definitely cannot be accepted as an ethical argument."

The former president and Likud minister was convicted of raping and sexually assaulting A. - a former employee of the Tourism Ministry while he was minister. He was also found guilty of sexually harassing H., of sexually abusing and harassing L. from the President’s Residence and obstruction of justice.

The year-long trial took place almost entirely behind closed doors and left the public wondering whether the 65-year-old Katsav was wise to drop out of a plea bargain two years ago.

The plea deal meant Katsav would not face the most serious charges and promised him a suspended sentence at worse, but the former president decided to prove his innocence in court.

Understandably, Katsav was very upset with the sentence:

Katsav erupts at jail sentence for rape: You let the lie win
Former president publicly denies his guilt as he is sentenced to seven years in jail for rape, sexual offenses; attorney hints at appeal.
By Ofra Edelman Tags: Israel news Moshe Katsav

Former president Moshe Katsav gave way to tears and cries of protest as he was sentenced by a court in Tel Aviv on Tuesday to seven years in prison, probation and heavy fines for rape and other charges was read out on a Tel Aviv courtroom on Tuesday.

As Judge Yehudit Shevach read out her judicial opinion, Katsav was embraced by his son, and the two began to sob. Katsav then yelled in the direction of the judges, "They are mistaken, it's all lies! The whole sentence is a mistake! Maintaining one's silence is not an admission of guilt!"

The court ruled that Katsav must serve seven years in jail, two years of probation and pay NIS 100,000 to his rape victim, a former employee of the Tourism Ministry known as A., and NIS 25,000 to all other complainants in the case.

Katsav asked his son, "Has there been one example in history when defendants fought for their truth and emerged victorious? They are mistaken, and it will all be proved! You are mistaken, ma'am, you are mistaken! You have committed an injustice! The judgment is wrong! You allowed lies to emerge victorious!"

The former president continued, "The women know that they lied! They know that they lied, they are laughing at the judgment! Your honor knows that she lied!"

Katsav's attorney Zion Amir tried to calm Katsav down but Katsav continued to lash out at the judges. The Presiding Judge George Kara told Katsav that there are established channels for submitting an appeal, but Katsav continued to interrupt the proceedings.

"You did not allow me to call witnesses, your honor, you did not allow me to admit evidence! You shut me up over the course of the entire case," Katsav said. Judge Shevach did not respond to Katsav's outbursts and continued to read out her judicial decision.

As he left the courtroom, Amir called the decision "a sad day for the State of Israel." Amir continued, "The court has never made such harsh statements, from the Attorney General down to law enforcement agents."

According to Amir, "These matters should lead to an investigative committee. No judge even related to the fact that for the last four years, the legal system has quashed the defendant's rights."

Amir implied that his client would appeal the sentence handed down when, after the judges had passed sentence, he requested that the court postpone carrying out the jail sentence until a decision is made in Katsav's appeal.

"The process has lasted years, the acts occurred many years ago, it's no secret that the defense is not in agreement with the results of the judgment," Amir said. "We humbly accept the judgment of guilt, although we also dispute it."

"There was a divergence of opinion over the judgment, and in our opinion it is a large divergence of opinion," Amir added. "We are confident that the court can, and must, act on this authority."

Katsav's defense team has 45 days to officially submit an appeal of the sentence passed down Tuesday.

[Hat Tips: Ruthie, Burich.]

Comments

[Minyan Regular]

"The plea deal meant Katsav would not face the most serious charges and promised him a suspended sentence at worse, but the former president decided to prove his innocence in court."
Katzav could have "copped a plea" and lietrally have walked away, gone home for a nap, and the whole thing would have been yesterday's news. Because of ego, (I have no other word,) Katsav crowed his innocence and now he is sentenced to seven years in the slammer. Sometimes, one has to swallow some of the dirt that is thrown at us and move on (Sh-t happens !!). Someone might be hit by a truck and need an operation. Instead, the person will scream that he/she does not deserve this and refuse to have necessary surgery.

[DJT]

looking at the guy most probably he can't even get it up, unless he took triple dose of Viagra .

i wonder if the defense lawyers did not raise that ..... during the trial LOL

[Loshon Hora]

Shmaryahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Scotty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why pck a photo of him with a kipa?
Why not the photo outside the court with no kippa?
Because you want to associate all bad with Judism especially Orthodox Jewdism, more so Chareidi, so you dig up a picture of him with a Kipa.
For that matter you could print every news item about Shimon Peres & a picture of him with a kippa, I wonder if he has kept one Shabboss in his life or Bibi, there are pictures of him with a kippa. He also admitted adultry & still got voted PM in Israel, was that the chareidim's fault?

[Shmarya]

Why pck a photo of him with a kipa?

Because he is Orthodox.

[ahpee]

this whole thing is a frame up. Of all the countries in the world i have spent time in, the one that is most subject to whimsical corruption is here in Israel. The judiciary is completely subject to political pressure and bribery. Even worse, they are moral crusaders and will judge based on what they think is right. regardless of evidence.
When Katsav got picked to be president over Peres, it was clear to me that Peres was going to find a way to fuck him. And he did!

[A. Nuran]

An engineer I worked for had the following bit of wisdom up on his wall...

Samson slew the Philistines with the jawbone of an ass.

Every day thousands do themselves in with the same weapon

[kj]

Strange story about Katsav:

Years back when he was still president, my parents went to Israel to visit family. My mom went a few days before my dad and when she arrived in Israel, a young man asked her if she would like to meet the president. He asked if she would like to bring anyone along and she answered that my father would love to go as soon as he arrived. The young man gave them a date and said to head over to his house in Jerusalem for shacharit. They went and my dad davened with Katsav and then they had breakfast with him afterwards. They said he was very nice.

We all still find it very strange that a young man would approach a woman in the airport to ask her if she would like to meet the president of the country.

[Aleksandr Sigalov]

He probably wishes that he'd live by the Law of Moses...

http://bit.ly/fLr6F2

[What kind of goyishe name is Harold z"l?]

No way he did it. He was with me the whole time.

[Catherine Zeta-Jones, not]

It must really upset him to know that he could have gotten out of this with probation had he just accepted the plea deal. What hubris!

Wonder if he has real support behind him that will somehow work out a last minute back room deal (pardon?).

[YbM]

baruch shehechiyanu veqiyemanu vehigianu lazman haze.
baavod reshoeem rinnoh!

[A E ANDERSON]

"You did not allow me to call witnesses, your honor, you did not allow me to admit evidence! You shut me up over the course of the entire case," Katsav said.

Not the kind of thing heard very often in open court. An investigation is definitely warranted. In general, prosecutions of high government officials, or former ones, can almost always be relied upon to have a political aspect if not motivation.